A normal family
by MChrisH
Summary: Martha Kent decides that she wants to meet her grandson... and learns that her family has got really confusing
1. A normal family

How come I'm bombarded with plotbunnies while reading books about EU-Law for my Bachelor-Thesis but when I'm on holiday I have writer's block?

Well anyway, here's my first Young Justice ficlet, possibly the first of many by rate the plotbunnies keep coming.

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><p><strong>A "normal" family<strong>

"So, Superboy, how do you like the pie?"

Superboy stopped eating briefly. "Very good, Mrs Kent, but you really didn't have to give me pie for saving you."

"I insist. And don't worry about eating my pie. I baked too much, so I'm happy someone else can enjoy it instead of it going bad," Martha Kent lied. She figured a little white lie was allowed. She really wanted to meet her grandson and since Clark still hadn't brought him to Smallville, she'd decided to take matters into her own hands. "And how are you getting along with your father?"

"My father?" the boy asked confused.

Did they forget to teach him such vital things because of his training to be a superhero? She could understand that they hadn't taught him in that lab – the poor boy – but her son should know better. Well, she was here now to help him. "Well, the man you live with who takes care of you, teaches you..."

Superboy's expression brightened in understanding. "Ah, you mean Batman. At first he was difficult for me, for all of us to read but we know that he cares. But he doesn't live with us." He tilted his head. "Or did you mean Red Tornado?"

Martha figured she hadn't been clear enough – and her son wasn't spending enough time with his boy. Perhaps a more scientific explanation, considering he'd surely been taught that. "No, I mean the man you share DNA with."

"Oh. Yes, we're getting along quite well. Although we see each other only once a month and we can't really go on an outing because Martian Manhunter has to chaperone," Superboy replied.

Martha was surprised. "Chaperone? Why would your meetings need to be chaperoned?"

"Well, the League didn't really like the idea of leaving me alone with a supervillain like Lex Luthor, so they decided that for now J'onn will chaperone in order to notice if Lex is planning anything. Anything bad for me, that is. J'onn and Br... Batman say he's never not planning," Superboy explained matter-of-factly. "So the League agreed it would be better to arrange supervised visitation that to let Lex start a custody battle."

Martha was momentarily speechless. _Lex Luthor... supervised visitation... custody battle..._ Then she shook herself out of it. "I meant how to you get along with Superman," she finally said.

"You my genetic donor!" Superboy finally understood.

"Superboy! It's not nice to call to call him that!" Martha rebuked sharply. The next moment she regretted it because the boy looked at her like a kicked puppy, the same confused, hurt expression in his eyes.

"But that's what he said he is," Superboy said quietly. "He said he's not my father, just my genetic donor."

Martha frowned. "Did he now." That would explain why she had had to resort to subterfuge to meet her grandson. "Here, have some more pie. I have to call my son."

Superboy watched her leave the room, confused by her muttering about how she'd always known the initials of the other parent would be LL but that she hadn't expected this.

* * *

><p>So, Superboy's family is rather confusing: if Martha keeps explaining, he'll probably count Black Canary as mother, Batman, Red Tornado and Lex Luthor as fathers and the rest of Young Justice as siblings? Somehow I'm afraid there'll be more plotbunnies about them interacting.<p> 


	2. Family bonding

This is less a second chapter than a second ficlet set in the same universe. I'll probably continue like that, writing short ficlets.

Ima: There' some mention of how Lex Luthor got visitation rights but I'll probably write another ficlet from Luthor's POV which will deal with it in more detail.

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><p><strong>Family bonding<strong>

Diana stopped short when she found Batman sitting in front of the monitor. Wasn't he supposed to be at Mount Justice? But then she caught sight of what he was watching.

"You're having Superboy's visits with Luthor recorded?" she asked.

Batman smirked. "Of course."

She shook her head. "I still can't believe you allow it." Before he could reply, she sighed and continued: "I know, I know. We didn't really have a choice. Although I still don't understand why any judge would even consider giving Luthor custody over Superboy."

"They try to keep a child with his biological family. Since Luthor can prove that he is Superboy's "father" and has managed to appear reformed for over a year, a judge might decide in his favour. These supervised visitations are the best compromise we could reach outside of court," Batman explained.

She sighed again. She knew all that but that didn't make it easier. "Well, Clark's certainly not helping. We wouldn't have to worry about Luthor taking advantage of Superboy if he weren't so damn awkward when he's interacting with his son. Or in the same city, really." They hadn't seen signs yet that Luthor might hurt Superboy or use him, at least J'onn hadn't picked up anything. And Superboy seemed to relish having a father who actually took the time to see him regularly and take an interest into him. From what J'onn had mentioned, they steered clear of 'shop talk' (because that would get awkward even faster than Superman accidentally encountering the boy, considering they were supervillain and young hero), so they instead talked about – well, a lot of different things. J'onn had actually started asking her about some of the references Luthor used concerning Greek mythology and history. If he weren't a supervillain, she'd definitely have to have coffee with him...

"I don't think we'll have to worry about Luthor taking advantage of Superboy. If anything we'll soon have to worry about the opposite," Batman said, interrupting her thoughts (thankfully).

"What do you mean?" she asked, intrigued.

By way of an answer, Batman opened another video file, this one from the last visit.

_"...and that's what people – like your friend – mean when they say 'that body'," Luthor was just saying, a slight almost...tender smile on his lips._

_"Lex?" Superboy asked, looking at him out of those blue eyes that could seem so innocent often. "Why did you become a villain?"_

_And Luthor, Diana was _very_ amused to see, actually _gaped_. _

_"I...I mean you're really bright. Even Robin and Batman say so. And from what they say on the television your company does all those great things to help people. So why did you decide to fight Superman?"_

_Lex opened his mouth but then closed it again, obviously not knowing what to say. He stood abruptly, crossing over to the window and staring outside._

_"Lex?" Superboy asked tentatively, slowly going to him. "Did... did I say something wrong? I didn't mean to offend you. I...I know I sometimes..."_

_"No. No, you didn't offend me," Luthor quickly reassured him. "You just...took me by surprise. You know, I haven't thought about that in years. Actually," he glanced at J'onn. When he inclined his head, agreeing not to listen for a moment – obviously because he knew that Batman would catch whatever it was – Lex continued, voice lowered, "I don't know anymore."_

Diana was surprised. This would have been the perfect opportunity for Luthor to start influencing Superboy but instead he hadn't used it. She looked at Batman. "Do you think Luthor actually cares for... his son?"

Batman regarded the picture on the monitor thoughtfully. "We'll see."

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><p>Just a short ficlet for now. I'll write more about their relationship in the ficlet from Lex' POV I mentioned.<p>

For those of you wondering about how LL acts in the ficlet: 'my' Lex tends to be rather influenced by the first few seasons of Smallville. Therefore I think that, no matter how much he planned to use Superboy in the beginning, he'd probably be able to relate because they share the whole father issue and he can understand the whole 'I'm only a replacement for my father but he doesn't love me because I'm not perfect'-feeling (plus there's that nostalgia issue, you know, the whole "You're about the same age your father was when I met him")


	3. Presents

Sorry, no new chapter, just a revised third ficlet. I had forgotten that using symbols to show a change of scene/POV/whatever doesn't work anymore.

I'll try to finish the next ficlet soon. It's going to be the one from Lex' POV and - probably - also include an appearance of Superman.

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><p><strong>Presents<strong>

Superboy looked from Lex to the car and then back to Lex again. "It's...a car?"

Lex nodded proudly. "A Ferrari."

Superboy tilted his head, confused. "But I don't know how to drive."

Lex grinned. "Don't worry. I can teach you."

* * *

><p>"No!"<p>

"But Uncle Barry!"

"No, Wally! You're a speedster. What would you need a car for?"

"But it's a Ferrari!"

"Just because Superboy has a Ferrari doesn't mean you need one as well."

Wally crossed his arms. "Fine, then I want what Robin got."

Barry sighed in relief. Robin was only thirteen. That couldn't be too bad. "Sure. What did he get?"

"Driving lessons in the Batmobil."

_Shit._

* * *

><p>"So..."<p>

"So."

"So, Sp... Red Arrow, how... are you doing?"

"Fine. Not that you care."

"I do, Ro... Red Arrow. I..."

"Yeah. Whatever."

He cleared his throat. "Well, now that you're on your own, perhaps you could use a... vehicle, like... a car?"

"Oh, so your _niece_ didn't want a Ferrari?"

"Yes. I mean no. I... I mean I wanted to offer you..."

"You're not going to just buy me back as your _side-kick_!"

He watched him storm off. "...i just want you back..."


	4. Introspection and a Confrontation

Okay, finally the next ficlet. This one is the promised one with an insight into Lex' thoughts. It's also more directly connected to the first and second ficlet in terms of story line while the last ficlet was more of a loosely connected plot punny that wouldn't leave me alone.

Small warning for Superman being portrayed as... rather far from the perfect hero ideal. But considering the cartoon, that's probably not coming as a suprise.

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><p><strong>Introspection and a Confrontation<br>**

Lex hurried to Happy Harbor, eager to see Superboy again. It had been a month since they'd last met, far too long as far as he was concerned. He'd have to talk to the League, preferably Batman, to see if they could increase the visits to two weekends a month.

When he'd first found out that he had a son with Clark, he hadn't expected how close they'd become. He'd found out when he'd hacked the Cadmus computer system (he might be working with the Light but that didn't mean that he trusted them or thought they gave him all the information he needed and wanted). He hadn't been sure if it would be worth his while to contact Superboy – he'd expected Clark to quickly tell him how a Luthor was untrustworthy, worse than the devil and whatever else the Kents had come up with – but then he'd seen them on the news together. Careful observation had shown that Clark seemed to be avoiding their son. Figuring that this was the perfect opportunity for him to get someone with Superman's powers on his side, he'd prepared to contact him. He'd hacked the Justice League computer – or rather their normal system, he still hadn't managed to crack the secured parts – and had 'asked' the League to see him. Then he'd simply told them that he wanted to meet his son or he would sue them for custody. Wayne and Queen might be rich enough to hire a top lawyer but judges still tended to decide in favor of the biological parent. He knew it and they knew it, so it hadn't been too much of a surprise that they'd agreed to give him visitation rights, even if supervised. That it was the Martian who was supervising had made his plan to get Superboy on his side more difficult but he'd figured that he'd still manage, he'd just have to be patient.

The plan had quickly lost importance however the more time he spend with Superboy – and no matter what he'd planned at first, he would suggest creating a secret identity today; his son needed a real name. When he'd shown interest in him, Superboy had quickly started to tell him about his problems, especially with Clark. While it had given him plenty of potential to argue against his son's connection with the Justice League, it had also roused long forgotten feelings and memories. When his son had told him how he couldn't get his father to accept him, how he was never good enough, he had been reminded of his own struggle to gain Lionel's acceptance. The thought that his own son should have to go through the same thing was unconceivable to him.

Superboy's innocence – and of course his appearance – also reminded him strongly of Clark at that age and therefore their friendship. He'd managed not to think about that time in years but now he couldn't stop, especially since his boy had asked him why he'd become a villain. The truth was that he'd simply been tired, far too tired to keep fighting against everyone's expectations. While he'd always craved power and influence (Alexander the Great still _was_ his idol...), he hadn't wanted to gain it illegally. He'd have preferred to achieve it as a scientist or, considering how Lionel had kept preventing that, as a business man. It had been hard, always having to justify himself to his father, facing distrust wherever he went. For a while, his friendship with Clark had given him hope but then he been found imperfect and had been cast aside.

He quickly abandoned that thought. His relationship with Clark was over and he was starting to think that it was time the same applied to his relationship with Superman. Over the course of the last months, Superboy had become more to him than a potential weapon. He was family and perhaps, just perhaps, a second chance.

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><p>Batman was in Happy Harbor to update the files on the Cave's computer which could take long enough that he'd be here when the rest of the team returned. The only others here at the moment were J'onn, Superboy and Lex Luthor.<p>

When there was only one file left, he stopped and glanced at the clock. Still an hour or two until the team's return. Perhaps he could take a short break, take a look at what was happening at the meeting, before he got to work on the last file. He opened the video of the security camera.

* * *

><p>"...so she smothered him. I took the blame so Lionel wouldn't hurt her."<p>

Superboy looked shocked. "Your mother killed your brother?"

"She was not herself, both because of post-partum depression and because of the time spend dealing with Lionel. Either way, it means that you have no further living family on my side. My parents are death, as are my brothers," Lex replied. He was surprised at himself. He'd never told anyone all about his family, especially not how Julian had been killed by their mother and Lucas shot by a rival gang when he refused to listen when he tried to keep him safe. He carefully watched his son's expression, wanting to make sure that he'd be able to deal with their – admittedly rather gruesome – family history. He was intrigued when Superboy looked up at him shyly, the expression he usually wore before making a request he wasn't sure would be acceptable.

Before Superboy could speak, however, they were interrupted by a loud noise. Lex found himself moving instinctively, placing himself between his son and the door.

"Luthor!"

_Well, that certainly explains it._ He relaxed somewhat when he recognized Superman's voice but remained between him and their son.

"Luthor! What have you done to Superboy?" Superman demanded to know as soon as he entered the room.

Lex crossed his arms. "I am simply talking to _our son_. Something parents should do."

"A clone doesn't have parents," Superman contradicted.

For the first time in years, Lex found himself truly angry with Clark. "Don't you dare use that word again! He might not have been conceived the traditional way but he's still a child, with two parents just like any other child." He smiled coldly. "Although if you consider everyone who hasn't been conceived naturally as less then you'll soon find yourself in trouble when dealing with the high society and a good deal of the League."

Superman seemed thrown for a moment but quickly rallied. "Don't you dare threaten me, Luthor! Stay away from Superboy! We do not need you hurting him."

"It wasn't a threat but a simple piece of advice. Furthermore it's not me who's hurting him. Just ask the Manhunter or Batman," Lex replied. He risked a glance back to his son. Seeing his unsure and rather pained look, he made himself calm down. He'd like to give Superman a piece of his mind – and he would soon – but now was neither the place nor the time, not in front of their son.

Superman didn't seem to agree, seeing as he opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by Batman's arrival. "That's enough, Superman!"

Superman blinked, surprised to find Batman here – and siding with Luthor of all people. "B-But Batman..."

"Your refusal to take responsibility is one thing but this is out of the line!" He briefly turned to the Martian. "J'onn, take Superboy and Luthor to the kitchen. I'll have a little talk with Superman."

Lex allowed the Martian to lead him out of the room but stopped beside the other two superheroes. "You should be careful, Batman. People who know his secret identity are liable to end up having their minds wiped shockingly if he doesn't trust them enough." He noticed with satisfaction how Clark flinched then stared at him in shock. "Lionel would have been proud to have you as a son!" he hissed, then followed Superboy and the Manhunter without looking back.

Perhaps he shouldn't have said it but he'd been holding that in for years now. He found that he actually felt better having finally voiced one of the worst betrayals he'd suffered through Clark.

"Lex?" Superboy said timidly. "I... Thank you."

He was confused. "What for?"

"For- for what you said. For sticking up for me," Superboy explained.

"Of course I'll do that. After all, I'm your... father." Yes, he was his father. But that didn't mean anything, as both his own father as well as Clark had proven. He had to suppress a laugh. It seemed there was something in which he'd surpassed both Lionel as well as Superman.

But he'd have time to think about that later. Now was his time with his son. "What were you about to ask when we were interrupted?"

To his surprise, Superboy actually managed to look even more shy and unsure. "It's... it's just that I rather like the name Julian... and you said that I should have a real name. So I was wondering..."

Lex was stunned. Superboy – no, _his son_ wanted... He had to swallow a sudden lump in his throat. "If you like, ...Julian."

* * *

><p>J'onn hid a smile. It seemed like Batman had once again read the situation correctly. He'd have to let him know – although only after he finished 'talking' to Superman. No one liked to get caught in the crossfire between those two, not even when it was only for a short telepathic message.<p>

Whatever identity Superboy – _Julian_ now, he had to remind himself – would choose, between Luthor and Batman it would probably be one of the most secure ones of the whole League. As for Superman... well, he hoped he'd come around. He understood what it meant to be different from everyone around him, one of the reasons he was actually quite happy to have his niece on Earth now, so he hoped Superman would see it soon.

Until then, he was curious to see what else would happen to this unusual family. It was proving to be more interesting than the TV shows M'gann was so fond of...

* * *

><p>So, since the YJ-Cartoon-Universe is slightly different where names andor identities are concerned (Aqualad, Artemis...), I figured: who says that Superboy is gonna be Connor Kent? So, as far as this ficlet series will be concerned, he'll be Julian (haven't decided on a last name yet)

For those of you who don't like Superman in this ficlet, don't worry, I'll explain the reason in the next ficlet (this one from Clark's POV), plus Batman can be quite persuasive.

By the by, the working title for the next ficlet is '**The Light's last mistake**'


	5. Author's note

Sorry, no new ficlet (yet) but instead some words to Superboy's new name. I guess I kept the note at the end a bit too short, so I'll expand on it here briefly.

First of all, I also really like the Comic-Conner/Superboy/Kon-El character. That I used another name doesn't mean otherwise.

BUT the ficlets take place on Earth-16, not the traditional Comic universes. There are already new characters or aspects that didn't appear in the comics, (this) Aqualad being one of the best examples. Kaldur'ahm didn't exist in the comic universe, instead his friend Garth was Aqualad. He was later included in the comic universe by Geoff Johns but started out as a completely new character.

Furthermore, Greg Weisman hinted in some of the questions regarding Young Justice on Station 8 that even the background of well-established characters like Superman might not be what we expect it to be. Another example of such differences is that Robin, for once, is not directly the leader of the group. As for Superboy, we don't even know yet if he 'only' the clone of Superman, of Superman and Lex Luthor or of Superman and some else. I went with his comic genetics because I wanted to bring in Lex but like I said, in the series in might turn out that he has no connection to him, no matter what the comics say.

So as a writer, the Earth-16 universe is full of potential because we have lots of characters and potential characters but given the small number of background information, we can fill in their stories without directly having to say that we're creating our own DC-Alternate Universe.

As for the name, I see Superboy as wanting to have a name that connects him to his father (since the other one won't step up (yet)) and since he can't use Luthor (too dangerous, both Lex and Batman would have a fit if he just used it) he choses a first name that gives him this connection. I decided to go with the last name Kent after all - but chosen by Batman as a big hint to Superman, a) to remind him that Superboy IS his son, b) because Superman can't complain about someone making the connection between all concerned since Kent isn't that unusual as a last name. And regarding the first name 'Connor'... well, as I said, I do like it, so there might be talk of adding it as a middle name after Superman finally sees what he's missing. I don't know yet, depends on whether a plotbunny about that will find his way to me. I do have some vague ideas already...


	6. The Light's last mistake

So, as promised this ficlet shows you Superman's side.

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><p><strong>The Light's last mistake<strong>

Superman used the flight back to Earth to think back over the last weeks. It had, of course, to do with Superboy. It seemed everyone was telling him to finally take care of his... "son". They didn't seem to understand how difficult it was for him. Contrary to the others, he had already experience with clones, something they seemed to forget. After what had happened with Bizzaro, he didn't want to risk getting attached to his young clone, especially considering that the clone had been created by the Light. He'd expected Bruce to agree but something must have happened to make _Batman_ go from calling Superboy an 'it' to telling him to take care of his son. He couldn't ask Bruce, so he'd tried Black Canary. He still shuddered at the memory of her reaction. She definitely wasn't happy with him for the way he was handling the situation with his clone. So he'd tried Red Tornado... he hadn't known a robot could display that much disapproval.

After that, he'd mostly tried to keep out of it but then everything had changed.

It had all started with the call from his mother. He'd actually been avoiding his parents ever since Superboy had first made the news. Whenever they'd mentioned meeting him, he'd quickly taken off, citing an emergency. He knew that it was cowardly but he didn't want to face their reaction.

In the end it had been for nothing. His mother had called him on his cell out of the blue one day to tell him that she had finally met her grandson and that there were some things they needed to discuss. At that, he'd taken the easy way out: he'd volunteered for a mission far away from Earth.

He'd hoped to avoid the confrontation but when he'd finally returned, he'd found his parents waiting for him in his apartment. They had started out by telling him that he should know better, that he of all people should be able to accept a child, no matter where they were from. That he should be able to understand how difficult it was for Superboy, how much he needed someone who'd understand, someone who'd be able to help him. The worst, however, had been their _disappointment_. He'd desperately needed something to distract himself from their expression, so he'd latched onto his father's words. How it was understandable that he was shocked to suddenly have a child with his arch nemesis but he shouldn't take it out on the boy. How it was disappointing that _Luthor_ of all people was making more of an effort, was closer to the boy. That there should not even be a possibility of a custody battle. After that, it had been easy to use one of his common pattern and blame it all on Luthor. He'd taken off without explaining himself to confront him instead. Looking back, he knew that he should have taken a moment to calm down and think it through. The middle of Luthor's monthly visit with Superboy, supervised by J'onn and – behind the scenes – Batman was definitely not the best place for him to lose his temper. In a way, he was actually relieved that Batman had been there to stop him before he alienated the others in the League even more. But it hadn't been Batman's appearance that had drained all his anger, it had been Luthor's words before leaving. It was obviously a reference to his time in Smallville. But that meant that he knew his secret identity. Batman had pretty much confirmed it (actually he'd told him that "of course he knows your identity. He knows _all_ identities. What did you think how he got us to meet with him to discuss the custody arrangement?"). What was more, it meant that he remembered how he'd left him behind in Belle Reve.

He was still trying to wrap his head around what all this meant. If Luthor knew all their identities, knew _his_ identity, then why hadn't he ever used that knowledge? (_"You know, Clark, there's one thing I'll never forget."*_ No, that couldn't be it. He did not want to remember that day, did not want to wonder...) And if it was true what J'onn and Bruce suspected, if Luthor really cared for Superboy, what did that mean for them?

He'd left right after his conversation with Batman and had kept to himself for the rest of the week-end, hoping to be able to escape from all the change for a while longer.

He should have known that an angry Lex Luthor wouldn't be ignored.

On Monday, he and Lois had been sent to interview one of Metropolis' high society ladies who was eager to talk about her ex-husband's involvement in some highly illegal activities. When they'd arrived however she'd informed them that would not talk to someone who considered her daughter unnatural, simply because she had been conceived via In vitro fertilization. Lois and Perry had been furious with him. Luckily she'd still been ready to be interviewed by the Daily Planet, just not when it involved him, so they had calmed down somewhat. The downside was that Lois was alternating between looking at him with a mixture of disapproval and disappointment and trying to figure out how the interviewee had known. Clark could guess but if he told Lois that Lex Luthor had spread that information because he refused to accept the clone they had together, that he didn't treat him as a normal child, never mind his son, she'd have his head. So he'd done what had worked once before: he'd volunteered for another mission off-world.

Which brought him back to the present. While he still wasn't too sure how to deal with Superboy, it was about time that he took some responsibility. He wasn't sure what to do.

Suddenly they were contacted from the League Headquarters by... their new member (what was his name again?). "Guys, you need to go directly to the coordinates I'm sending."

They exchanged surprised looks. "What's going on?"

"Luthor contacted the League today to inform us that the Light has captured Red Arrow and used him as bait to capture the Young Justice team as well."

Barry, J'onn and Orin straightened noticeably.

"Who have you already dispatched?" Wonder Woman asked.

"Batman went, accompanied by Green Arrow, Black Canary and Red Tornado."

Flash sighed. "Damn, by the time we get there it will be all over."

"Which is why I contacted you now so that you can go there directly to help, hopefully before it's too late for save them."

Everyone in the shuttle looked confused. "You're not from Earth, are you?" Wonder Woman asked.

He looked confused. "No, why?"

"Because otherwise you'd know better. We'll go there right away," Wonder Woman replied.

Still, they accelerated, mostly out of worry for their side-kicks than for the fellow heroes. Mostly...

Superman involuntarily felt himself tense and ready for battle. He wouldn't allow himself to consider what might be waiting for them. What might have happened to his friends, to Superboy...to Lex.

* * *

><p>When they reached the coordinates, they found a smoking ruin of what had probably once been one of the Light's strongholds. J'onn quickly flew off, probably in the direction he'd felt his niece, so they all followed him.<p>

They found them all sitting or standing near what had once probably been the entrance. M'Gann had come to meet them and was hugging her uncle. Red Arrow was sitting between Green Arrow and Black Canary who were fussing over him, looking quite overwhelmed by the attention. Flash zipped over to where his nephew was sitting with Artemis, checking him for broken bones or any serious wounds. Kaldur made to bow when he saw his king but then looked shocked when he was instead hugged. But what really drew Superman's attention was the last group. Lex was sitting on the ground, Superboy beside him and holding onto his hand. Batman knelt beside him with Robin half hidden under his cape, cleaning wounds on Lex' chest and shoulders.

Superman suddenly found himself standing right in front of them. "Lex?" he whispered.

Wonder Woman joined them as well. "Do you need me to get you to the nearest hospital? Those wounds look rather serious."

Lex forced a smile, teethes gridded in pain. "It's fine. My mutation means that I'll be healed soon."

"They'll still need to be properly treated. Diana, you're here with the Javelin?" Batman said.

She nodded. "I'll call it." While Batman carefully helped Lex to his feet, she turned to the two teenagers. "What about you? Are you hurt?"

Robin shook his head. "Nothing too serious. But Roy was badly beaten when we arrived."

"Lex got hurt protecting me and Robin!" Superboy suddenly exclaimed. "They said their weapon is deadly."

Lex smiled at him. "Don't worry. My mutation means that I'm a lot tougher than a normal human." He gently ran his hand through his hair. "And of course I protected you. You're my son."

Superman just stood there, struck speechless. Deadly. That meant he could have... he could have lost Superboy... could have lost his _son_ before having had a chance to get to know him. He'd kept his distance because he couldn't face the pain of losing a son but now he found that the thought hurt, no matter if he was close to him or not. In fact the thought of Superboy dying, thinking he hated him was more painful than anything else. God, and Lex. If what Superboy said was true then he might have died without his mutation. He wanted to grab them and take them to his Fortress of Solitude where they'd be safe and taken care of. But judging from the unsure looks Superboy was throwing him and the way Lex was actually leaning on Bruce, he doubted that offer would be accepted.

Had he understood too late? Had his cowardice cost him his chance at having a family?

* * *

><p>* It's the start of a quote from the Smallville episode "Asylum". The complete quote is: "You know, Clark, there's one thing I'll never forget." – "What's that?" – "How important your friendship is to me." For those who are interested, here's the link to this scene http:www. youtube. com/watch?v=HmjOHgb0tMc

So obviously I used some facts from the Smallville Universe as background for Lex and Clark's relationship. As for Superman's reaction to Lex, I used the Justice League cartoon as inspiration. There he always refers to him as 'Luthor' and doesn't like working with him but when he's in danger, Superman worries and calls him 'Lex' (see for example in Destroyer or Injustice for All).

As for the Light... Well, considering they just majorly pissed Batman and Lex, plus drove the whole League into overprotective parent mode... let's just say: see ficlet title


	7. Advice

Just a short ficlet that wouldn't leave me alone again.

**Attention:** Please read the author's note at the end.

* * *

><p><strong>Advice<strong>

"Metropolis Helpline, I'm Sandra Quinn. What is your name?"

„Um… I... I'm Clark. I... I need some advice about my family."

"Okay, Clark. What is the problem?"

"I... uhm... I recently learned that I have a teenage son with my ex-best friend. I guess I didn't react very well. ... Okay, I reacted really badly and pretty much refused to accept him. And now I don't know how to approach him. How to approach both of them."

"Well, that depends. Could you have known before that you have a son together?"

"No, definitely not. My...ex-best friend... only found out after we'd... lost contact."

"I see. Well, first of all you should apologize, then try to explain why you reacted the way you did. I'm sure your friend can understand that it is a shock to suddenly learn that you have a teenage son and she can help you talk to your son."

"he didn't seem to have a problem accepting him"

_'He'? _"What did you say? I'm afraid I didn't quite catch that."

"Nothing important. It's just that I'm not sure if L... my ex-friend will be all that eager to have me as part of their family life. My... son... befriended the ward of my... current best friend, so the four of them spend much time together and now it seems like my ex-best friend is dating my current best friend."

"..."

"Sandra? Are you still there?"

"Uh, yes. Yes, I'm still here. Okay, let's start with your relationship with your son. I would suggest you ask to meet them somewhere private but also neutral, then apologize and explain. Prepare your explanation carefully in advance so you know what you want to say but don't simply memorize it. They'll notice and probably won't like it. You also shouldn't expect everything to blow over at once. It might take a while until they forgive you and even longer until your son sees you as his father.

"Now, about your relationship with his mother. Could it be, Clark, that you still feel something for her? Perhaps even something more than friendship?"

"'Her'? Ah, yes, Lex. Alexandra, I mean. I...well... I guess there might still be some... unresolved feelings."

"O~kay. Now, let's see. First of all: having a good relationship with your son and his mother should be priority. If she truly is dating your best friend, then you will have to accept it or it could damage your relationship with all three of them. You should make sure if they _aren't _dating before you make a move. Here you also need to be patient. Try to be friends with her again first. That will also give you the opportunity to figure out if you're still compatible and to find out information about her that will help you figure out how you can make a move."

"Thank you, Sandra. It really helped to talk it through with someone."

She laughed gently. "That's what we're here for. Now, I wish you good luck with your family."

"Thank you. Goodbye."

"Goodbye." She briefly took off her headphone. "Damn, I wish I could sell these stories as TV scripts or something. I'd make a killing with this one."

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><p>Author's note: So I'm not completely sure how to go on as far as uploading goes. I have a ficlet written that is kind of an epilogue considering it takes place some years into the future. I also have some ideas for a ficlet dealing with Superboy receiving his names (which will also include some interaction between him, Lex and Clark, taking place after The Light's Last Mistake). But I haven't yet had any idea about Clark trying to have a good relationshipform a family with Superboy and Lex.

Basically there are 3 possibilities about uploading new chapters:

1) I upload the epilogue as soon as possible, then keep adding ficlets about what happened in between whenever a plotbunny shows up

2) I finish the ficlet 'Naming' (which should take 1-2 weeks), then upload it together with the epilogue

3) I upload futher ficlets whenever I get an idea but don't upload the epilogue until I covered everything in between in which case this ficlets might stay WIP for quite a long time

Which would you prefer?


	8. Epilogue

So as the commenters wished (thanks for the comments by the way) here's the short epilogue. For those of you who don't want to know how it will end: just wait a day or two, until then I should have a new ficlet ready.**  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Epilogue<strong>

Lex sighed. They were at it again. Batman and Robin – or rather Nightwing, the current Robin was standing beside Julian – were once again fighting. The tension was _very_ noticeably whenever they were in the same room. He glanced back at Robin who had to suffer the most from the fighting between the two ex-partners, just in time to see Julian wrap his arm around the slumped shoulders. He seemed to whisper something but they were too far away for it to be audible. and Clark would surely refuse to tell him. Well, at least how now he could guess the reason for some of the – rather private – questions Julian'd asked lately.

Kaldur, one arm around Tula's waist, with Garth on her other side, went to join them and seemed to try to distract Robin. Lex couldn't hear what they said, so they tried to read their body language. He noticed with interest how Tula's hand strayed repeatedly to her abdomen. Could it be...?

Clark pulled him out of his thoughts by reaching for his hand. "Think we should give them a hint?"

Lex actually considered it – which just went to show how much constant exposure to a boy scout like Clark could affect people – but didn't get a chance to reply.

"I think we should let them figure it out themselves," Oliver said. They were actually standing beside Oliver and Roy, something Oliver and Lex had had to learn for the sake of the young heroes. "They certainly didn't think it necessary to help us. Or you."

Roy laughed. He kissed Oliver briefly, then said: "I for one wouldn't mind seeing it from the outside this time. The way Dinah tells it, she was always torn between hitting us and laughing at us."

Clark grinned. "Sounds good. I'm curious to see how long it takes the master detective to figure it out when it concerns himself." He nuzzled against Lex' cheek, trying to hide his grin from the rest of the League.

Perhaps the fact that they were affecting each other's behaviour wasn't so bad.

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><p>I'm not sure yet if I will write ficlets about everything that obviously happened before (and after) this epilogue. I do plan to write more about how Clark and Lex' relationship develops and there might be references to the others (because at least one of them would have probably caused Superboy to ask questions...).<p>

A little hint about the next ficlet: it will be helpful to know Disney's Gargoyles (which, by the way, was also written by Greg Weisman)...


	9. Genesis Undone?

So here's the ficlet I mentioned at the end of the epilogue. It takes place some time after Advice but quite a few years before the Epilogue.

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><p><strong>Genesis Undone?<strong>

Lex glanced at his on. While it wasn't unusual for Julian to be a bit quiet at the beginning of their afternoons with Clark, he normally at least listened and soon started joining in but today he seemed... distracted. "Julian?"

When there was no reaction, he looked to Clark, wordlessly asking if there was something they could hear that might be distracting him but Clark only shrugged, just as confused. "Julian? Superboy?" Clark tried.

* * *

><p><em>"Father, what's happening to me?"<em>

_"Everything's going to be alright, I promise. You're just taking a nap, a very long nap."_

* * *

><p>Lex reached out and shook Julian's shoulder. "Julian? What's the matter?"<p>

Julian blinked, surprised to see both his fathers looking at him worriedly. "Huh? What did you say?"

"Has something happened? You seem... preoccupied," Clark said.

Julian shrugged, still not used to Clark showing interest in him.

Now Lex tried to get their son to confide in them. "Are you tired? You didn't mention any mission but..."

"NO! Ah... I mean... I'm not tired. And there was no mission. But the others and I were watching TV last night and..."

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><p><em>"By the time we found them, it was too late."<em>

_"There was nothing we could do."_

_"Doctor, do you think we'll ever find a way to bring them back?"_

_"There may be a way to revive them one day but why make the effort? They were defective. If you ask me they are a lot better off passing for bad sculpture."_

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><p>"Lex? You don't think I'm defective, do you?" Julian asked quietly.<p>

"'Defective'? Who gave you the idea that you might be defective?" Lex asked, glaring suspiciously at Clark.

"No one. It's just... we watched this series and there were clones. But... but something was wrong."

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><p><em>"My tests have confirmed that the clones will not live through the night without treatment."<em>

_"What is causing this?"_

_"A defect in the defect in the DNA replication chain. Despite the great strides my research has made, cloning remains an imperfect science."_

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><p>"They died... or fell into a kinda coma or whatever. But I... what if... what if I'm also... what if my cloning procedure was also imperfect?"<p>

Clark was too shocked to speak. That had been his worry too, the reason why he had kept his distance. In the end, it had been the thought of the regret and guilt of never having known his son if such a defect should really occur that had made him try to get closer to Superboy. How could he reassure his son if he himself worried about it constantly?

Lex, however, relaxed. "You do not have to worry, my boy. Both Batman and I independently checked your DNA for any potential dangers, both accidental and planed by the Light but we found nothing. And you told me yourself that the Martian, the older one that is, regularly checks if there is any mental change. So I do not think you have to worry about it."

"Are you sure?" Julian asked.

He'd normally get angry when having his research and intelligence questioned but this was his son. Moreover, his _scared_ son. So instead he covered his hand. "Julian, I swear to you that I checked it very carefully and I found nothing. And even if we overlooked something – which is highly unlikely – or the Light manages to somehow affect your DNA, nothing will happen to you. Don't forget that you have the brightest minds on Earth on your side, as well as access to alien technology far more progressive than what we have on Earth. So you really don't have to worry." _I won't let anything or anyone take you from me._

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><p>The title and text in Italics are from the Gargoyles episode Genesis Undone.<p>

The next ficlet will (probably) deal with Superboy getting his name(s)...


End file.
